Dental care questions
8 years ago
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Dental Implant vs Cantilevered Bridge?
Comments (25)Mary: Does an implant mean that your tooth will die? Or can they preserve the root in spite of the screw? And I think that a peg tooth is a full sized tooth that has been shaved/drilled down so that a crown can fit snuggly over it. A peg tooth is a livng tooth, but all of the enamel is gone and it is somewhat pointed. I do have a crown on a peg tooth. Do not look in the mirror when they are mounting your crown. The peg tooth, which is in fact the size of a baby tooth, is really, really different looking. The word that best describes it is scary. I try to avoid looking into my dentist and his assistant's glasses/eye protectors when that tooth is exposed. Because my mouth looks like something out of a horror movie with the exposed peg tooth in the open gum of a full sized tooth. I lost my two front teeth in a bicycle accident when I was about nine, one tooth finally died when I was in my twenties, and now I have beautiful crowns in front. I just got back today from having two old crowns removed, decay cleaned out along the gum line, and am awaiting two new crowns. My teeth have posts in them (does that make them implants?) already, so I am only paying for new crowns. Between our insurance and our medical reimbursement account, I'm not paying for this work directly. Our medical reimbursement account gave us a "credit card" to pay for our health care expenses. It's extremely convenient. It seems like you've gotten great advice Mary. Save that tooth. Unless you love eating firm or highly sticky foods (like those suckers, what are they called? "something daddies" that are perfect for removing certain types of dental work), give this tooth time. Keep your mouth cleaned and floss gently to prevent decay around the base of the tooth. If you can keep your mouth clean and healthy, and avoid hitting your mouth or eating difficult to chew foods (or biting pens, apples, nuts, hard candy, nails etc), I would think that you could wait a half a year. Because we are on a tight budget, we have to alternate my DHs and my dental work with orthodonture for seven kids, I have postponed dental work for years (not root canals but cavities) but just keeping my mouth clean and maintaining twice a year check ups. Finally, if you want to whiten your teeth, pick a nice bright shade for your crown. I didn't choose the ultra white "A" grade that everyone who works in my dentists office has, but sort of a soft, mellow white, the "B" grade. Still white, but not the "you need your sunglasses to look at my smile" white. I really wish God had given us three sets of teeth....See MoreDog dental care - Sonicare or electric toothbrushes?
Comments (9)I have been using an Oral B spin brush, but I have also used the Sonic, and the cheap spin brush with batteries too. Best results has been the Oral B Spin Brush dip in tiny cup of brown bottle of 3% Hydrogen Peroxide. Dip in Hydrogen Peroxide and brush, dip and brush, dip and brush. Make it pleasant and keep brushing time short so they get use to it. Try to do it a few times a week or every other day to get caught up on removing tarter. It may be the diet causing all the tarter build up. Usually dogs that eat a wheat, soy or corn based pet food get terrible tarter and terrible teeth from it. The gmo carbs from wheat corn and soy don't do well for dogs teeth. Causes terrible tarter build up. Grains are not a natural food for dogs so grains can cause tarter buildup, gas, diahrrhea, and excessive weight gain as carbs get stored as fat as hard for dogs to digest. And now all grains in the USA are GMO's so even worst for dogs. Switch to a sweet potato based pet food or white potato base. I had great results with sweet potato based pet foods. Try USBones.com california natural sweet potato and herring dry and or canned dog food. Best I have found. http://www.USBones.com natural holistic pet foods made in the US with US sourced ingredients. pet food, treats, chewies, bones, supplements for dogs and cats. Great family owned company. Supplement with real veggies. Great for helping to keep teeth clean. Feed green beans, green peas (frozen or fresh - avoid canned veggies as sodium causes diarrhea) Cook and cool sweet potato slices. I keep a bowl of cooked cooled sweet potato slices in the fridge to add to food or use as treats. Banana slices and apple slices are also good. You can also brush with baking soda and hydrogen peroxide. You many need to use baking soda to help remove the tarter if the hydrogen peroxide isn't working fast enough. I think if you brush your dogs teeth 3 times a week, it should start to get rid of the tarter. And changing the diet, and avoiding wheat, corn or soy based pet food which is usually the biggest culprit in tarter build up on teeth. Hope this helps....See MoreDental insurance after retirement
Comments (9)Hi Joyful Guy (what a great outlook on life! Your name says it all! It makes me think that maybe I was "accentuating the negative" when I chose that "MT" screen name--but my life is very full, even tho' my nest is empty!) Thanks so much for your advice. Actually, I'm trying NOT to change dentists, because I love the guy I've been going to for the past 19 years. (Funny you should mention the dental school idea, though, because when I first found my current dentist, he was recommended to me by a friend who had first visited him at the local dental school! He later opened his own practice, and that's where he was when I started going there. He's been saying for years that he's going to retire "next year," so maybe I'll be looking for someone new soon, but for now, I'd like to continue with him. Sorry for rambling so much! I've been researching this question for the past couple of weeks now, and I see that, with few exceptions, the options for retirees are pretty limited. I guess I was kinda spoiled by the full coverage I had while I was working, and I just assumed it would continue that way. Not!! I'm trying to dig up the numbers for various plans (COBRA, discount cards, fixed fees, etc) so I can "crunch" them and see which option makes the best sense for us. I never realized that dental coverage would be so expensive in retirement. I hope others will chime in with their experiences and suggestions, too. Thanks, Sue...See MoreDo you have individual health care? Question
Comments (184)I know I've said this before but as a Canadian I had to have emergency surgery at the ER earlier this year. Walked in, didn't even have my health card because it was expired, walked out later that night never having signed anything or pay a cent. called the billing clerk at the hospital the next week with my new expiry date and she already had it. No muss no fuss no worries and no cash involved. I pay approximately 50% of my income in taxes and federal contributions off the top plus 15% sales tax on many items and services and I'm happy to do so. In return I have access to equitable and excellent public schools, Canada pension plan and employment insurance. Oh and it takes about 15 minutes to do my tax return. there are four main ways the Canadian System saves money and promotes efficiency: 1. Prices for services are set by the provincial governments who act as the public insurer. as we discussed for example a single issue office visit at a GP is $30 In my province. 2. A whole huge layer of middleman and complexity is removed because the system is so simple. What might be a whole wing for billing in an American hospital is a room in a Canadian hospital. Not to mention we don't have intermediate insurers taking a cut. 3. Government negotiate the price of prescription drugs. 4. Family doctors are trained to act as gatekeepers and cost managers. For example if they can solve your problem they wont refer you to a specialist. there's no such thing as an MRI on demand In Nova Scotia unless you want to pay $900 for a private one. This is the most frustrating aspect of the system. but it does make sense, essentially if you're demanding a bunch of testing that doesn't fit the gold standard of care you were likely to be denied....See More- 8 years ago
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